dust and water

oh, antony. come back to sf so i can see/hear you live please.

dust and water
dust and water with audience participation. go swedes.

book recommendation

more fall in alameda. to the farmers' market this morning. perfect day for bicycling, again.

finished what is the what last night, a fantastic book. my foremost book recommendation for the year. it is the story of the incredible life/struggle of valentino achak deng, who was one of the "lost boys" from sudan, written brilliantly in valentino's voice by dave eggers. i got chills reading this short interview with valentino and dave about the process of writing the book—the faith and trust and patience and friendship required to create this book. (i also recommend purchasing the book since the proceeds go to the vad foundation.)



♥

farm bill rant

the fate of the US farm bill is not yet decided. currently it's in danger of being (re)written or revised by the super committee instead of its going through any kind of public hearings or the usual (largely pretense of) negotiations. if the super committee writes parts of the bill, almost certainly any new pieces that would benefit small, sustainable, organic and/or beginner farmers would not be included. and the few good programs that came out of the last two farm bills are in danger of not getting re-authorized. if the committee does make decisions about cutting funding, at the very least, they should not be allowed to write any new agricultural policy, as this would be even more undemocratic than the usual already undemocratic farm bill process. this (among other things) is what i learned at a recent kitchen table talk event about the farm bill.

if you care to learn more about the farm bill (which deeply affects us all—our food and our environment) and/or make some phone calls to senators/reps, civil eats has posted a blog that includes pertinent info. also the book food fight, which i have yet to read, can supposedly help demystify the farm bill.

the civil eats post also features a very short video of michael pollan talking about the farm bill. it never ceases to amaze me how good pollan is at tailoring his message to the medium and to how much time/space he is given—such an adept communicator.

speaking of pollan, can't wait to read the new edition of his food rules now illustrated by the fabulous maira kalman!

amusing

sometimes he just cracks me up.

it's fall in alameda.

this weekend listening to: vetiver, florence and the machine, broken bells

will scobie and lots of other good illustrators/designers found through meowoodle

grattis!

today is my mom's 70th. she is in sweden celebrating with her sisters. it sounds like they are treating her special all around. lots of celebrating. i'm glad. it seems like just yesterday i was 11 and my mom and i were surprising my mormor on her 70th. appearing from behind a piece of fabric that was hung in the back yard at vallsta. the family was all gathered, everyone in on it except my grandparents. my great aunt carin worried that my morfar (who had heart trouble) might have a heart attack on the spot, so carin's eye was on him when my mom and i emerged. i don't remember it all that well, but i love the photos. mormor clasping her hands, a huge smile on her face. totally surprised and joyful. and then clutching my mom hard to her. and morfar sitting, looking somewhat stunned but calm, smiling. seems like it took him a bit longer to take in the scene. (he survived it.) it's hard for me to believe that my mom is of grandma age now. grattis på födelsedagen mamma min!

don't have access to photo albums at the moment, so above is an oldie i've posted before. bigger.